Assistance for Haiti

Appeal for Solidarity
Source: UIA

During its meeting in Sydney, Australia, on 17 and 18 January 2010, the UIA Council expressed its heartfelt emotion following the earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12. Stressing the importance of prevention measures and particularly the specific construction methods that must be mastered by architects and applied to all buildings constructed in areas at risk, the UIA Council invited architects worldwide and its Member Sections to contact humanitarian organisations present in the area in order to offer their help to the people of Haiti.

The UIA fully supports the initiatives of the Emergency Architects Foundation that since 15 January has set up, in Haiti, an action team composed of experts from France, the West Indies and Canada. The task facing them is the technical evaluation of the damaged buildings to guarantee the safety of the population as rapidly as possible.

UIA invites its Member Sections to support the Foundation’s action and to respond to its appeal for funds to permit the pursuit of its on-site interventions and, later, the development of adapted development projects.

Source: UIA

UIA calls for support for the rescue of Haiti's cultural heritage
UIA supports ICOM Haiti, ISPAN Haiti, ICOMOS, UNESCO and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in their efforts to preserve known and apparent historic areas and buildings, commemorative markers, archaeological sites, museums, libraries and archives and to ensure that they are cordoned off and placed off limits from the clearing operations. As the clearing process is already beginning with the use of heavy equipment, until the ICOMOS field assessment for each individual building’s reconstruction has been completed none of these buildings should be touched. This will help avoid the unnecessary loss of many cultural and historic resources.

UIA invites every architect in Haiti or supporting an architect in Haiti to work through the Steering Committee set up by the ICOMOS President, Gustavo Araoz, to coordinate the field actions from all these named heritage bodies, to manage the complex stages of safeguarding Haiti’s heritage, to contribute to the rescue and recovery of the heritage in Haiti. Aim is to save as many historic buildings and heritage sites from executive demolition as possible, in Port-au-Prince, Carrefour, Léogâne, Delmas, Pétionville and Jacmel.

Further Information:
ICOMOS
Gustavo Araoz, President
eMail: gustavo.araoz@icomos.org
web: www.international.icomos.org/home.htm
UNESCO
web: www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
web: whc.unesco.org
ICOM
web: icom.museum/mission.html

Emergency Architects Foundation
eMail: info@archi-urgent.com
web: www.archi-urgent.com
Link for Donations: Emergency Architects Foundation